Customer Reviews

Lynyrd Skynyrd - Freebird The Movie / Tribute Tour

5 star:		(57)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Wow, this DVD is incredible and a gift from the Heavens. How can anyone complain about this. People like Perbes from Spain and Kevin from Missouri need to shut their mouth about audio quality this, video quality that. Listen, if you are sitting on anything better we can watch of the original Skynyrd, then by all means start whining. But last time I checked, this release contains probably the best video and audio of the Ronnie fronted band around. So that makes me happy to see. Lastly, the video is from 1976, 28 years ago. If you're a true fan, you take what you can get, and leave the bitching to the losers with the $10,000 TV's and Audio systems who can't get this in 16:9 picture ratio and 5.1 dolby surround sound! Long Live Skynyrd.

I bought this VHS tape expecting a movie about the band, that is not what Freebird The Movie is. What you get is some incredible video tape of the band in various concerts from dates in 1976 to 1977. Most of the tape is from an Open Air Rock show that Skynyrd played in England. While most of the tape is in color, there are some parts that are in black and white, believe it or not that does not really detract from this film. The band plays 15 songs on this tape, they are as follows: Workin For MCA, I Ain't The One, Saturday Night Special, Searching, What's Your Name, Whiskey Rock-A-Roler, Travelin Man, Gimmie Three Steps, That Smell, Gimmie Back My Bullets, Cry For The Bad Man, Call Me The Breeze, T For Texas, Sweet Home Alabama and Freebird of course. The song Simple Man plays as the credits roll. There are interviews with band members (live and dead) family and frynds between most of the songs. While this tape does not tell the history of Lynyrd Skynyrd the band (for that look for the VH1 Behind The Music episode) or the terrible accident that happened to them on that October day 1977 it does catch them in all their splendor, both tragic and glorious all at once. There is indoor BW footage taken from New Jersey and from San Francisco, CA. The outdoor open air footage from England and from A Day On The Green in Oakland, CA is wonderful, flawless footage with spectacular sound. The segment from Oakland was filmed only 2 months before the crash, it will make you cry...be warned. From comparing the England footage against that of Oakland it is clear America has better looking girls (even in 70's duds) and better dentists. Two of the three surviving members have reformed the band and added Johnny Van Zant, Rickey Medlock of Blackfoot fame and one of the founders of the band The Outlaws...the Three Guitar Attack Lives! Let hope that the future for Lynyrd Skynyrd is filled with as much good fortune as the past was filled with bad fortune. Good film a steal at this price.

This movie is fantastic for true Skynyrd fans. I grew up very near to some of the guys in Jacksonville FL and have been a true Skynyrd fan for years. I even have a photo in my early 70's Ed White High School yearbook showing them playing at a school dance. Some of the footage showing their neighborhoods on the West side of town brought back so many memories for me of a place I haven't seen now for many years. And, to think that these young guys could be such powerful forces in the music world is amazing.

Of course the highlight of the film is the concert footage featuring a lot of the band's geatest songs. The movie also shows early raw footage and precious (although too short) interviews with Ronnie Van Zant.

I wish the music quality was a little better but, it's still very, very good. Some of the scenes showing the band on stage and the reaction of the fans to Freebird brings a tear to the eye. The ending is unbelievable as they show actual home movies of someone in the band holding a video camera and walking right onto the plane, into the cockpit and film it taking off and you can see the pilots briefly.

For me it was the 2 second clip showing Ronnie Van Zant playing poker on the plane that stuck in my mind the most. He was staring out the window, turned to place his bet and then turned back to the window. I could really imagine how he was probably thinking up more great lyrics for some song which would tell a story or maybe he was dreaming of bass fishing back in Florida. You could always see that these people were not phony baloney rock stars but, real people that loved their craft and loved presenting it to the world.

The closing credits are one of the best parts with a high fidelity version of "Simple Man" playing in the background while home movie footage along with candid photos are intersperse with the credits.

After the tragic crash we had so little to remember except of course the music. This movie brings the people themselves right into your house.

The second movie on the DVD is also good. It shows the reorganized band but, still covers the past too. One interesting note you learn from the second movie is the tragic car accident which left Allen Collins paralized. As a follow-up, (according to the Skynyrd website) he died several years later of pneumonia. I was really bummed to read that.

In short, if you're a Skynyrd fan, then this is THE DVD you have to own.

Don't pay any attention to what Dickpounder Bill Sykes had to say about this dvd. He's probably just a disgruntled Molly Hatchet fan. If you are reading reviews of this dvd, then chances are that you know they are quite simply one of the greatest bands to ever grace this earth.
The original Lynyrd Skynyrd were nothing short of great. You can see every bit of that through their performance at Knebworth during Freebird The Movie. There is nothing I could say that could accurately convey just how great they were live. The only way for you to get the gist of what I'm saying is to get this dvd. All of the classic Skynyrd tunes are here as far as hits go. But the performance of them live is what really shines.
You also get the Tribute Tour video in this package. It is a decent chronicle of Lynyrd Skynyrd's Tribute Tour that ran from 1987 to 1988. Is it the original band?...nope...were they as good as the original band?...nope...were they as good as you could get at that time...you bet they were.
In the Lynyrd Skynyrd tribute band, you had five original band members. That is the closest to original Lynyrd Skynyrd as you could get at that time, and a lot closer than you will get now when you go to see the band.
I think the Tribute Tour video was good musically and I liked the documentary footage as well. I would have liked to have had an entire concert released on video and a separate video with documentary footage and interviews.
All in all...I think this dvd is well worth it's cost. 3 hours of footage of one of the greatest bands ever.

When I purchased this DVD, I couldn't believe that you could get two movies on one DVD for such a low price. I'm telling you, this is a must for every Lynyrd Skynyrd fan. It has the excellent "Freebird..the Movie" biography, followed by the hard-to-find "Tribute Tour" documentary. Starting off, the package itself is attractive, with a nice 1977 group photo etched on the disk itself. Both movies are excellent copies with great sound. Again, this is a must for Skynyrd die-hards, and it is very reasonably priced.

Being a long-time Lynyrd Skynyrd fan, I thoroughly enjoyed this DVD! The movie "Freebird - The Movie" really brings back memories and reminds us all of just HOW good Lynyrd Skynyrd was! Besides being extremely talented, the band had a special kind of charisma, that has yet to find it's match. Ronnie Van Zant also had a very unique stage presence, which can all be seen on the excellent concert footage of this movie. The guitar playing of Allen Collins, Gary Rossington, Steve Gaines and Leon Wilkeson was just incredible, as well as Ronnie Van Zants vocals! Lynyrd Skynyrd was a band that made you feel happy and good, but also caused one to stop and think about a lot of issues. It made me feel kind of sad, though, to see their wonderful performance of "Freebird" in California, just a couple of months before their plane crashed. What a loss of talented young people! The "Tribute Tour" is also good. It is quite obvious, though, that it is not really the same band. But, they readily admit that in the film. Johnny Van Zant does a good job singing his brother's songs, and the rest of the band, consisting of some of the original members, play the old hits very well. (And I think it's great that they keep the music alive to this day!) It was sad, however, seeing Allen Collins sitting on the sidelines in a wheelchair during the tribute tour, paralyzed after an automobile accident, especially when one knows what other tragedy he had to go through after surviving the plane crash. All in all, watching this DVD is an uplifting experience, though, and I can still get caught up in the good feeling, that "Lynyrd Skynyrd" gave to it's fans! It's well worth watching over and over again. It is also not a film just for staunch Skynyrd fans...I think anyone who appreciates good music will like it. My 8 year old son is fascinated by it!

I am a Skynyrd fan since the seventies, I bought before this DVD, Lyve from steel town...but I was a little disapointed because it was not the original band members, all you could see was overweight, middle age man playing skynyrd songs.

But this one (specially free bird the movie) is worth buying, for the simple reason that it is the REAL skynyrd members.

The only thing that dissapoints me is when they play my favorite all time song "SWEET HOME ALABAMA", the camera guy I think had a crush with one of the back up singers, because in most part of the song you can only see them singing. What a waste!!

This movie only deepened my appreciation for a great rock band. I've loved Skynyrd since I was a teenager in the `80s but never saw them live. Seeing them in action (albeit on video) is a treat.

Much of the DVD footage is taken from 1976's Knebworth Fair, a massive all-day rock festival in rural England. It was a gorgeous summer day, and 250,000 people showed up for the outdoor concert, rumored to be the Rolling Stones last show. (You can put that rumor to bed.)

The opening act, Skynyrd played an extremely energetic and tight set. The crowd was ecsatic. Dummer Artimus Pyle famously said Skynyrd "blew the Stones off the stage."

The three-guitar-attack of Collins, Rossington, and Gaines is truly awesome. It's amazing how they never step on each others toes. The band was hitting new heights before tragedy struck.

I agree with the previous reviewer who wrote that the movie harkens back to a simpler time, when music and people were more innocent. The `70s was really the last unspoiled decade.

Interspersed throughout are interviews with surviving band members and Judy Van Zant as well as pictures and home video. Except for the black-and-white footage of smaller gigs, the video quality is excellent.

The companion piece is "Tribute Tour," which chronicles the band's reunion 10 years after the crash. Despite the presence of four original members (five, if you include Ed King), this is a completely different band, which they readily acknowledge. Although I don't get off on the new sound, the second movie is interesting for its look at Skynyrd's evolution. At $12.99 for both shows, this DVD is a fantastic value, and even casual fans will gain a new respect for the band.

FREEBIRD: THE MOVIE is the best Lynyrd Skynyrd video ever, because it's the only one to feature the original band. It intersperses the music from the soundtrack album, which I own and love, with interviews, on-plane footage, and several songs not on the soundtrack CD/cassette. Among the exceptional music here are the only recorded live versions of "What's Your Name" and "That Smell" by the Ronnie-fronted Skynyrd. This video is a must-own for any rock & roll fan.

This DVD is cheap for a reason.It has the most cheap production I've ever seen/heard on a DVD.

The menu is dumb and confusing.It will take you a few minutes to figure it out when you first play the DVD.

The video quality is cheap and the audio quality is absolutely cheap.The volume is all over the place in Freebird the Movie.The concert footage in Freebird the Movie is rare and priceless and they treat it like this?What an insult.I don't expect perfection in old video tape, but obviously no one made any kind of an effort here.They just slapped it together and put it out.

They don't even have the courtesy to offer chapter stops for the songs.15 complete performances and they just offer 5 random chapter stops.There's no excuse for that.It's Lynyrd Skynyrd live in 1976 at the peak of their powers and it's treated here like a cheap (...).What a disgrace.

The Tribute Tour video is all talk and very little music.There isn't one complete song performed in the entire program.It's worth 1 viewing, I suppose, if you're a big fan (I am).Then there's no need to ever watch it again.

I hope someone else puts Freebird The Movie out on another DVD sometime and they give it the deluxe treatment it deserves.

Final score:
Freebird The Movie - 5 stars
Tribute Tour - 2 stars
DVD production quality - 0 stars